/ ˈneɪkɪd; NAmE / adjective
1.
not wearing any clothes
SYN bare :
a naked body
naked shoulders
They often wandered around the house stark naked (= completely naked) .
They found him half naked and bleeding to death.
The prisoners were stripped naked .
—see also buck naked
2.
[ usually before noun ] without the usual covering
SYN bare :
a naked light
a naked flame
a naked sword
Mice are born naked (= without fur) .
3.
[ only before noun ] ( of emotions, attitudes, etc. ) expressed strongly and not hidden :
naked aggression
the naked truth
4.
[ not usually before noun ] unable to protect yourself from being harmed, criticized, etc.
SYN helpless :
He still felt naked and drained after his ordeal.
► naked·ly adverb :
nakedly aggressive
► naked·ness noun [ U ]
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IDIOMS
- the naked eye
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SYNONYMS
naked / bare
Both these words can be used to mean 'not covered with clothes' and are frequently used with the following nouns:
| naked ~ | bare ~ |
| body | feet |
| man | arms |
| fear | walls |
| aggression | branches |
| flame | essentials |
Naked is more often used to describe a person or their body and bare usually describes a part of the body.
Bare can also describe other things with nothing on them:
bare walls
•
a bare hillside
. Naked can mean 'without a protective covering':
a naked sword.
Bare can also mean 'just enough':
the bare minimum.
Naked can be used to talk about strong feelings that are not hidden:
naked fear.
Note also the idiom:
(visible) to / with the naked eye.
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English nacod , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch naakt and German nackt , from an Indo-European root shared by Latin nudus and Sanskrit nagna .